Firing Line
Capital Punishment
TV Flash files “Capital Punishment” as hour 57 of 326 in the TV Flash guide — Firing Line (1966–1999) on Syndicated/PBS, season 3, episode 31, aired 1968-09-03, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E31: listed hour 57 of 326 in the Firing Line guide, hour 10 of 15 in season 3. It aired 1968-09-03 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “Armies of the Night” (S03E21). Next is “The Hippies” (S03E32).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Capital Punishment sit in the Firing Line guide?
S03E31 is listed hour 57 of 326 — hour 10 of 15 in season 3, season 3 episode 31.
When did Firing Line S03E31 air?
Capital Punishment aired 1968-09-03 and is listed at 120 minutes.
Where should I start?
A Buckley hour with a guest from across the aisle and room for full sentences is the contract. Clipboard, drawl, no countdown clock. Sample debates, not a serialized doctrine.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Firing Line is William F. Buckley Jr. turning argument into spectator sport: clipboard, drawl, and guests from across the aisle in conversations that refused the sound bite. Syndicated, then PBS, it ran for decades on polysyllables. Political talk before the countdown clock — intellectual blood sport with manners, and sentences allowed to finish on national television.
Clipboard, drawl, and a guest from across the aisle — argument as spectator sport before the countdown clock. Firing Line is William F. Buckley Jr. turning political talk into ballet and blood sport at once. Premiered 1966, then ran through syndication and PBS into 1999. Sesquipedalian flair, pointed civility, ideas as combat. Public-affairs TV with a maestro's ego. Sentences allowed to finish on national television. **It set a gold standard for intellectual TV debate across ideological lines.**
Filed against
- William F. Buckley Jr. as Host
William F. Buckley Jr. hosted Firing Line as argument-as-spectator-sport — clipboard, drawl, guests from across the aisle in conversations that refused the sound bite. Syndicated, then PBS, decades on polysyllables. TV Flash files him as…